Subaru Ascent

[magikmarti]

Don't have much experience with the Ascent yet. Sat in one and loved it. My wife and I have owned four Subarus between us, and she's a Subaru embassador (great swag!). When she brought in her 2002 Impreza for general maintenance, the service dept. offered to replace all of the hoses, lines, and gaskets at cost, with a Legacy GT rental for the few days it was in the shop. Got it back, a few days later, and went to dinner. A coolant line they missed ended up bursting in the parking lot of the Texas Roadhouse. We called service dept front desk, no answe (it was around 9 at night). The front desk rep had given us her card with her off-hours phone number, called her, and twenty minutes later, the branch general manager drives into the parking lot with a flatbed and a Forester XT we could use while they replaced the line.
We love the reps, the people, and the cult following that goes with it. Nothing like getting a subie wave from another owner on a bad day to brighten you up.
The stated warranty might not be the best, but every problem that we've had was solved super quick and bending over backward to help us!

 

[Smileyshaun]

Anderson fab already has a 4" lift in development for the ascent . saw a pic it looks good

 

[slowtwitch]

If you like to keep a car for a long time and put a lot of miles on it with minimal upkeep ala Honda or Toyota.... buy a Honda or Toyota. Subarus are amazing for bad road conditions. We had a manual '07 xt outback wagon that was a thing of beauty... safe, good looking, unreal in snow and ice, roomy, decent mpg, and it absolutely hauled balls.. it's got to be one of the ultimate grocery getter sleepers ever. We had 'regular' 4 cyl outback before that, and a legacy 4 cyl before that.

I got tired of what I considered unreasonable upkeep.. mostly nickel/dime stuff, but a time sink nonetheless. There were a few different recalls.. something about the disc brake shields, and a turbo issue, that while small, would toast your turbo.. starved a bearing. Head gasket issues are common.. not across all motors. Check out craigslist.. you will find alot of Subys with <100k that have had major work done.. or need major work. Front light bulbs constantly go out because of a crap design, cv boot tears were common, radio going haywire in cold conditions, wicked wind whistle when driving through crosswind.. the wind would just pull the window away from the gasket.. subys have no upper window frame (maybe some models do). AC died at 95k. Dealer here was the pits, as was the one next town over.. had hit and miss luck with independent places.

My wife loved it and wants another. Unfortunately I'm the one who does all maintenance... I'm accustomed to my Tundras needs, which are few and far between. Any drive over 3 hrs, and my legs felt like someone took a bat to them. If you buy new and sell <100k, go for it.. they are slick vehicles. Also, make sure there is a good mechanic in your town.

 

[Regcabguy]

My friend's Subaru dealership is selling every Ascent they get.
I'm 6'4" and fit in the Forester but the seats, even power don't work for me. That's compared to our AWD Honda Pilot.
He's going to call me when they get more.
I wish they offered a third seat delete.

 

[utherjorge]

Don't have much experience with the Ascent yet. Sat in one and loved it. My wife and I have owned four Subarus between us, and she's a Subaru embassador (great swag!). When she brought in her 2002 Impreza for general maintenance, the service dept. offered to replace all of the hoses, lines, and gaskets at cost, with a Legacy GT rental for the few days it was in the shop. Got it back, a few days later, and went to dinner. A coolant line they missed ended up bursting in the parking lot of the Texas Roadhouse. We called service dept front desk, no answe (it was around 9 at night). The front desk rep had given us her card with her off-hours phone number, called her, and twenty minutes later, the branch general manager drives into the parking lot with a flatbed and a Forester XT we could use while they replaced the line.
We love the reps, the people, and the cult following that goes with it. Nothing like getting a subie wave from another owner on a bad day to brighten you up.
The stated warranty might not be the best, but every problem that we've had was solved super quick and bending over backward to help us!

That's amazing customer service. If the local Subie dealer was anything like that, we would be driving one today.

 

[docwatson]

I saw my first Subaru Ascent yesterday at Starbucks. I first thought it was an VW Atlas as those are everywhere around here. The Tahoe and Ascent are two very different vehicles.

Does one kid bring so much stuff to move you our a 5 seater SUV? I don't have any children but it seems like you would need at least two children before going to 7 seats.

 

[Fairbro]

Speaking of the Atlas... Has anyone driven/compared the Atlas to the Ascent? We are going to be looking at both in the upcoming months. I’d like to hear others feedback.

 

[cailean]

Make sure you are happy with the CVT, especially under load, up hills and accelerating. Love our Forester but the CVT is frustrating at times...

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

I was a claims adjuster for years and saw more people walk away from horrendous wrecks in a Subaru that they never would have in most other cars. I've had several but my wife will only drive pickups so we have 2 of them and no cars.

 

[Porcupine86]

wicked wind whistle when driving through crosswind.. the wind would just pull the window away from the gasket.. subys have no upper window frame (maybe some models do)

The newer Subarus have gone to a solid door frame design around the windows. My 2015 Impreza still has a fair bit of wind noise, but I've heard the 2017s are a lot better with quieter windshield glass for Crosstrek and Impreza along with the new stiffer frame from the Global Platform which is shared with the Ascent. The old frameless windows were cool, but I was always scared I'd break one when it was icy. I was always careful with them in the winter though, so that's probably why I never snapped them off.